Identify the 43 albums I couldn't do without

Serious subjects, glorious tunes, extraordinary words… and a 22-second cameo from Michael Stipe.

In My Tribe was 10,000 Maniacs’ second major-label album. I first heard it on the stereo in the the sixth-form common room when I was 17 and studying for my A levels, and I quickly came to love it. Natalie Merchant’s intelligence and values shone through in her thoughtful lyrics, set to the guys’ accessible folk-rock music. And her voice! – a wonderful, warm, chocolatey sound…

I considered myself something of a songwriter at the time, and Merchant’s lyrics made a big impression on me. I admired the fact that she tackled serious matters such as child abuse, alcoholism and illiteracy; and I liked the fact that her lyrics were set out as prose in the album sleeve and made grammatical sense as sentences.

The intro to the magnificent opening song, What’s The Matter Here?, still makes my heart flutter whenever I hear it. Verdi Cries – memories of a childhood holiday, delivered by voice, piano and cello – is a perfect, poignant finale. And among the many great tracks in between, Don’t Talk stands out for its electric guitar outro and the memorable lyric, “The drink you drown your troubles in is the trouble you’re in now.”

The obvious starting point for this goal, because this astonishing album has been among my very favourites for 15 years now.

I remember how odd this album seemed when it came out in autumn 1992. As one of the contemporary reviews said: “Hearing any of these songs on the radio will be like coming home and finding a message from Lou Reed on your answerphone.” In those distant, pre-internet days, R.E.M. had a real mystique about them: they hadn’t toured for a long time, Losing My Religion had become a cryptic global anthem the year before, and Michael Stipe refused to talk to the press.

Everybody Hurts and Man On The Moon may have become slightly over-familiar through heavy airplay since this album was released, but there are many other beautiful moments that endure. The heartbreaking Sweetness Follows is the real centrepiece of this album for me. Ignoreland is a thrilling diatribe; Star Me Kitten is haunting and romantic; Nightswimming and Find The River form a gorgeous ending.

It’s a record about love, loss, death, hope, despair and memory, and I love the final lyric: “All of this is coming your way.”